| SPN TSP Election Summer 2017 Prime Minister Debate |
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TSP Election Summer 2017 Term
Prime Minister Debate Note: This transcript is a modified version from the original discussion in the Discord channel @conference-hall. Changes that have been made include reordering for ease in following questions\responses, colors and editing of superfluous comments or directions. Star Lord Omega Good evening everyone and welcome to the South Pacific News Prime Minister Candidate Debate. I'm Omega and I will be moderating tonight with Escade. We will be taking questions from anyone so feel free to send them to Escade or me. Now if you will join me in welcoming the candidates: Permanent Justice of the High Court, Farengeto (Campaign Thread) Member of the Council on Regional Security, hierocles\Glenn\Sandaouguo (Campaign Thread) And former MoMA and MoRA, Roavin (Campaign Thread) So we’ll start with opening statements from each candidate: Roavin Hi there - I'm not much of an opening statement guy. I'm the candidate you all wished for in pre-election polling, and here I am! Please do throw all questions towards our wonderful hosts, as I love answering them and each additional question helps you get a better picture of the candidates. hierocles I'll be short and succinct. This is supposed to be an entertaining online game that we can waste our free time playing. The point of the game is to play politics, for the most part. But while it's fun to be a pretend parliamentarian, the rules that allow us to do that without major disruption have to be grounded in the fact that this is definitely a game first. To be prosperous, actions that seriously threaten to prevent the game from being played should be dealt with as any other GM/DM would. If we do that, then the rest of the sandbox is safe for everybody. Farengeto Hello everyone, and thanks to our hosts for setting this up. My campaign focuses on revitalizing the role of Prime Minister, and turning it into a role that focuses on actively supporting the other ministers in their work with a special focus on communication. ~
Star Lord Omega Now, I would thank you all for being here. The order of questions as decided by the TSP bot, Coco and will be Glen then Farengeto and then Roavin. hierocles ^_^ Star Lord Omega Sorry Roavin, your bot hates you ~
Escade First question for all three candidates: 1. Can you articulate the most important aspect of your campaign and how, in practical terms, you envision making it a reality as Prime Minister? hierocles Thank you for that question, whoever asked it! For a long time, campaigns in TSP have been short of specifics and unclear in how they'd actually do what's been promised. Now, I've said a lot of emphasizing the "game" aspect of TSP. So, I want to focus on my actual proposals. On day 1, I will begin working with the Minister of Regional Affairs to split up the ministry into 2 or 3 separate ones specializing in the tasks that have made MoRA the most labor-intensive Cabinet ministry. Writing laws is something I know quite a lot about in TSP, so with my dedication and MoRA's input, I think we can really make progress there. My second priority will be to reform our "judicial" system, into something that works for a game, rather than something that's designed according to RL courts. We currently have the Working Group brainstorming ideas. If that continues being a fruitful venue, it's my hope that we'll have a package ready by the mid-term. Farengeto As I mentioned in my opening statement, the main element of my campaign is working with the rest of the government, not just leading it. I envision the Prime Minister helping just as much as leading, for example working with Regional Affairs on MoRA projects or participating in diplomatic situations. I believe in the Ministers being able to make their own decisions, but with the active support and guidance of the Prime Minister. I hope to extend the role elsewhere as well, for example discussing with the winner of the next Delegate election on how to best divide duties of the dual leadership of The South Pacific. Roavin Well first off, Coco just uses a plain number generator, so if Coco picked me to be last, then that's just my poor luck  Now, I'm not sure I can identify the one particular aspect that is most important, particularly because many of them are related in some fashion. I suppose I could say the following - TSPers shouldn't just see the word "Cabinet" and think of a piece of furniture, or as the group of people whose names are green on Discord for a few months, but rather as the unified executive, headed by the Prime Minister - transparent, accountable to the people, and reachable. In practical terms, much of that is just being present and open, something I'm known for. ~ Star Lord Omega Okay. Now, this question is for hierocles(Glen) and Farengeto: 2. Why do you believe you were not seen in the Pre-Election Polling to the extent Roavin and even Omega were seen in those same polls? hierocles I'm not sure which polling you're referring to specifically, but if I recall correctly, I wasn't placed very high on the "would you like to see them run?" question for Prime Minister. I think it's because I didn't give any indication that I wanted to run, for anything really. Running for Prime Minister was held close to my chest, until the election drew near. It doesn't surprise me that Roavin and Tsunamy made the top of the polls--- Tsunamy has been Delegate for a long time, and there's been buzz about Roavin running since last term. Farengeto I would assume the main reason would be that I currently occupy another position as Permanent Justice. As with Glen I'd kept my intentions to run quiet up until the election, and I've also never really been the loudest or most visible individual in Assembly politics. Ultimately my performance in the polls doesn't deter me, the first round of my poll was intentionally subjective to be fair rather than pushing my own preferences. ~ Escade Next question is for Roavin. 3. You are a leader in TGW. How do you envision balancing the workload? Are you going to focus more on the SPSF and help the new MoMA, or will you strive to spread yourself a little more out? What would you do if a conflict (although it would be rare) arrives between us and TGW? Roavin On conflicts, I do have a good record of separating concerns. As an example, my appointment to be the First Warden in the Order of the Grey Wardens came as I was still Minister of Military Affairs here, and I did not enter active duty as First Warden (being at first in a "celebratory" capacity) until my term was finished. I can't say exactly how I'd resolve a conflict if it were to come up, as that depends on the conflict. I can only hope to appeal to my record. On the SPSF specifically, that depends on who our next MoMA is and how they do. If SPSF needs my help, I'll be there. Note that I still hold my Officer position in SPSF and wear that status with pride, with the SPSF logo being displayed on my switcher nations. And on balancing the workload in general - I already have no life. I'll be fine. ~
Star Lord Omega Okay, this is a big multi-part one for all our candidates: 4. How will you strive to make the PM role more open to the people? Will you be more visible? Will you directly participate in more than just the Assembly? How closely do you envision working with the Delegate for game side matters, if at all? What would you do if you and a minister disagreed about how a ministry should operate? hierocles A. To be honest, I'm not sure what "more open to the people" means. The Prime Minister can be PM'd, DM'd, tagged, etc. If you have a question, it's as simple as asking it. We're a community of 25ish players, after all. With the agenda I'm proposing, I'll be making many 'appearances' in the Assembly, as my mine is mostly a legislative agenda. B. I'm not going to promise to post on the RMB all the time, or to play spam games in festivals, or to unmute half the channels in the server. I have a full time job, spend time with my SO on weekends, and have other hobbies. The legislative agenda I'd like to enact will take a lot of energy to see through, and that's where I plan on spending the bulk of my time. Additionally, I will still be a member of the CRS and a forum admin, so I'll be wearing 3 hats. Does anybody ever look good with 4?? C. I don't think the Delegate is the office relevant to this question. I'll work the Local Council as much as they need me to. It's not the forum government's job to oversee the in-game community, after all. If they want to manage things on their own, that's great to me. If they'd like help, they know where to find me! D. I think the Prime Minister is the leader of the Cabinet. That's what it says in our Charter. A good PM is able to mesh together a unified agenda. But if a Cabinet member isn't willing to work with the PM, or specifically wants to work against the unified agenda, that's a real problem. I think that person should resign, rather than cause toxicity with the rest of the Cabinet. I'm not going to micromanage each ministry and tell the ministers how to run them. But I will expect us all to get together and talk and agree on a unified agenda, and I think it's totally reasonable for there to be an expectation from the whole Cabinet that you're either on the train or you're off it. Farengeto The biggest problem with PM so far has been its general inactivity. The obvious first step in making it more open and visible to take a more active role in basically everything it reasonably can. As I mentioned before my main goal is to work togethers with the ministers where possible. As for the Delegate I believe that needs to be decided jointly, I've said before I see the current relationship more like that of a Delegate and a Vice Delegate but I believe they need to work together as equals. When faced with a disagreeing Minister the optimal approach is of course to compromise, however unless I believe their approach compromises TSP in some way I am willing to generally give Ministers the final say. Roavin Being more open to the people means being present, both on Discord and on the forum. I'm almost always online on Discord, and I'd encourage people to just write or ping me with any questions, concerns, or ideas they have. On the forum, I like the idea of a "Prime Minister's Office" thread, where anybody can post such things as well, and I, in turn, can post small status updates. I see the Prime Minister as somebody that participates where they are needed. That could be the Assembly, or beyond - it depends on what's needed at the time. The Delegate and the Prime Minister head two separate jurisdictions in our region, so it's unlikely to be daily cooperation (though a good working relationship should be there anyway). One possible cooperation between Delegate and the Cabinet generally (which includes the Prime Minister, of course) is deciding how the South Pacific votes on Security Council resolutions when the result of that vote impacts foreign policy goals or military objectives. If I disagree with a Minister on how a Ministry should operate - well, the Minister has the mandate for that Ministry. I can apply soft power and reason logically, but at the end of the day it's my job to make their vision work in some fashion. ~
Escade Questions specifically for Farengeto: 5. Although you've been known to be more conservative with your rulings as PJ (which isn't a bad thing), how do you envision working with the Cabinet? With a hard hand or a soft touch? 6. Why do you want to be PM, instead of continuing as PJ? Also, do you believe the court would be safe without your leadership? Farengeto: 5. As I've mentioned I hope to take an active role but still give Ministers a reasonable degree of freedom. I aim to be active, not a micromanager. 6. The main reason I want to be Prime Minister is that the Judiciary can be deceptively stressful and after a while it can be nice to move elsewhere for a while. You can be under great pressure from all sides when making a ruling, and I'm often forced to make widely unpopular decisions in following my Judicial principles. Getting the legal fate of the region dumped on your shoulders can be tiring after a while. In Cabinet I hope I can continue to help the court by building a strong Judicial roster. ~
Escade Questions specifically for hierocles 7. What exactly would you like to see done with the MoRA and how it'll be split up? Any specific subsections you have in mind? 8. The Forum Administration Team will be responsible for the technical maintenance of the forums and the integrity of the database. Administrators will not be given responsibilities of a political nature.', how do you envision being within the bounds of the Charter? 9. Do you feel your attitude and lack of poll popularity hinders your chances? hierocles 7. I think MoRA should be split into these parts: communications, events, and community integration (known in other regions as "immigration"). It takes a lot to write a newspaper. Takes a lot to set up and run festivals. And if you're trying to do either of those, integration falls to the wayside. 8. The same way Tsu is "in the bounds of the Charter" being Delegate. Or the way I was being Chair, or MoFA. 9. I'm not concerned about polls. I ran for Delegate against Tsu knowing I was going to lose, after all. I'm running because I have something to say. And there are people who not only agree with me, but find it downright refreshing that I'm saying it. Quite a few TSPers don't like my "tone", and I'll give them that my rhetoric is bombastic. It's meant to be. It's meant to be shocking. Belschaft, Kris, and Cormac can accuse me of wanting to be TSP's own autocrat, but the reality is my campaign is written specifically to go against their ideas & the impact they've had on TSP, so they should strongly disagree with what I'm saying and find it troubling. ~
Escade Questions specifically for Roavin 10. Based on your statement, do you not plan to follow the plan that the other two candidates have proposed? Like splitting work or making new departments?" Roavin The proposals regarding making new departments and such are of a legislative nature, and don't require the position of Prime Minister. I do have a legislative bucket list, some of which I wish to pursue this term, but I will be pursuing that regardless of whether or not I'm granted the mandate to be the Prime Minister or not. Personally, I'm not opposed to adding a Ministry and thereby potentially reducing the intense burden on the Regional Affairs ministry - and working towards cooperation between these two (or more) ministries is, in my opinion, part of the Prime Minister's job. ~
Star Lord Omega And for all of you, your last one's are these: 11. What GCR would you coup and why? 12. Sum up your campaign in 1 word 13. Cake or pie? hierocles 11. The Pacific. They wouldn't know what to do! 12. Realistic. 13. Pie. I just made a strawberry rhubarb pie on Sunday  Roavin 11. Tim requested specifically that Warzones aren't included, which ruins the answer I planned (Warzone Europe). Let's go with Balder, just for the Onderwalls. 12. "Ohai!" 13. Pie. Obviously. Any other answer is wrong! Farengeto 11. Let's go with TSP. Farengeto for Immortal God-Emperor-Prime-Minister-Delegate of TSP. 12. Co-operation 13. I'm going to go with pie. I can never seem to finish a slice of cake . Roavin Breaking news: All three PM candidates prefer pie over cake! A positive sign for the Pieletariat of TSP! ~
Star Lord Omega & Escade Thank you hierocles, Farengeto, and Roavin for answering the questions that TSPers were most interested in! We’d love to get a closing statement where you discussed one aspect of a fellow campaigners platform that you might adapt to your own! (or one nice thing you would say about your fellow campaigners). Roavin I'll break a bit from the question as asked and instead say something nice about both of them - I wouldn't be where I am now without either of them, be it through answering my millions of nagging questions when I started NationStates last year, by helping me find my identity with our combined work in TIL, by being there for me with advice when I needed it, or just generally by being part of the TSP I know and love so damn much. Thank you to both Glen and Faren for that. <3 hierocles <3 I would adapt Roavin's plan to regularly update about what the Cabinet's doing. As for a closing statement... Bitter pills are hard to swallow, but sometimes it's necessary. Vote for me. Farengeto Thank you again to our organizers and I wish good luck to my opponents. I encourage everyone who did not get their questions answered to please ask them on our campaigns. We would like to thank all of the candidates for joining us. We would also like to thank everyone who asked questions and we encourage voters to ask follow up questions in the candidate's campaign thread and to VOTE! Once again campaigns are linked below: Farengeto (Campaign Thread) hierocles\Glenn\Sandaouguo (Campaign Thread) Roavin (Campaign Thread) Escade ~ Positions Held in TSP ~ Delegate | Vice Delegate Minister of Regional Affairs, | Minister of Foreign Affairs | Minister of Military Affairs ~ The Sparkly One ~ My Pinterest |
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